For all the appeal of the five modern, institutional-grade office and R&D buildings that were left standing on the former Roche campus, there is still work to be done. In fact, Prism Capital Partners is planning a multimillion-dollar renovation at three of the buildings.

As an investment opportunity, 800 Scudders Mill Road checked just about every box. A state-of-the-art, trophy office complex that was only three years old. A prime location just outside Princeton. And, perhaps most important of all, a net lease with a blue-chip, global pharmaceutical giant, Novo Nordisk Inc., with a longstanding presence in the market.

For a company that had been in the U.S. for nearly three decades, it was only about four years ago that the conglomerate known as China State Construction Engineering Corp. suddenly caught the attention of New Jersey’s commercial real estate market.

Far Eastern investors have accounted for most of the high-profile deals over the last year or so, but it was a Middle Eastern platform, KFH Capital Investment Co., that made the biggest splash in the fourth quarter of 2016.